Stuttgart take on Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday, with the hosts looking to recover from a disappointing run of results having lost four of their last five games.
Hertha, meanwhile, have taken just one point from their last six games, so they are in desperate need of a positive result to move away from the relegation zone.
Match preview
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After a superb first half of their first campaign back in the Bundesliga, Stuttgart have understandably stuttered a little in recent weeks to fall four points behind the top half of the table.
While scoring goals is rarely a problem for a side featuring attackers as talented as the likes of Nicolas Gonzalez and Silas Wamangituka, Pellegrino Matarazzo's side now have the fifth worst defensive record in the division after Saturday's humbling 5-2 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen.
Kerem Demirbay struck twice from close range within the first 31 minutes to give his side a two-goal cushion heading into the half time, before a crazy second half ensued. Sasa Kalajdzic showed excellent strength and composure to outmuscle Edmond Tapsoba before dinking the ball over Lukas Hradecky to pull one back for the visitors, but any hopes of gaining a positive result proved to be false with Leon Bailey and Florian Wirtz sealing the three points for Leverkusen after fine team moves.
Kalajdzic added to his tally before substitute Demarai Gray scored just ten minutes into his debut having signed from Leicester City on transfer deadline day. Stuttgart must start defending better if they are to arrest their recent slide in terms of results, with Hertha representing a dangerous side in transition on their day.
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The problem for Hertha is that their day has not been seen since the 3-0 win over struggling Schalke 04 on 3 January, with the Berlin-based club only outside of the relegation places on goal difference after a dreadful run of results.
However, it is still early days in Pal Dardai's tenure, with testing matches against Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich in his first matches in charge not the true judge of whether the 44-year-old will be considered a success in his first period in charge of the club.
Indeed, having taken the lead in the second half of the 3-1 defeat to the in-form Frankfurt, Hertha looked significantly improved once again in last Friday's 1-0 defeat to Bayern. The league leaders had Manuel Neuer to thank for keeping them level in the early exchanges once again, with the Germany number one superbly denying Dodi Lukebakio with his outstretched foot.
However, after Robert Lewandowski missed a penalty for the first time in over two years, Thomas Muller fed Kingsley Coman for what proved to be a 21st-minute winner. Hertha showed plenty of courage in attempting to find an equaliser, though, registering more shots on target than their illustrious opponents, with plenty to build on ahead of the trip to Stuttgart.
Stuttgart Bundesliga form: WDLLWL
Stuttgart form (all competitions): DLLWLL
Hertha Berlin Bundesliga form: LDLLLL
Team News
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Stuttgart appear to have lost Gonzalez for at least a few weeks with a hamstring injury sustained during the defeat to Leverkusen, but Kalajdzic showed after replacing him that he can ably deputise in the coming matches.
Gonzalo Castro, Clinton Mola, Lilian Egloff and Hamadi Al Ghaddioui remain unavailable for Matarazzo to choose from.
Hertha, meanwhile, will travel to Stuttgart without Jhon Cordoba, Jordan Torunarigha, Marvin Plattenhardt, Javairo Dilrosun and Dedryck Boyata due to injury.
Matteo Guendouzi will be hoping for a return to Dardai's starting XI having been dropped against Bayern.
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Mavropanos, Anton, Kempf; Wamangituka, Endo, Mangala, Sosa; Coulibaly, Klimowicz; Kalajdzic
Hertha Berlin possible starting lineup:
Jarstein; Pekarik, Stark, Alderete, Mittelstadt; Tousart, Ascacibar; Lukebakio, Darida, Cunha; Piatek
We say: Stuttgart 1-1 Hertha Berlin
With Stuttgart only winning once at home this season, we can see Hertha gaining a positive result on Saturday.
The likes of Lukebakio and Matheus Cunha have the quality to hurt Stuttgart in transition in what should be an intriguing battle.
Top betting tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Stuttgart win with a probability of 48.32%. A win for Hertha Berlin had a probability of 27.76% and a draw had a probability of 23.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Stuttgart win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.49%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.1%) and 2-0 (7.71%). The likeliest Hertha Berlin win was 1-2 (6.88%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.18%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.2% likelihood.
